Welcome, Crackity.
Have people told her we're friendly?
Good. Good...
It'll be great to see your reactions through the Mantlo run.
When I first read #25, I'd already seen the cover to #26, so the Mac is Delphine twist never came as a huge surprise to me. Spoilers!
We have a chronology thread which may be of some use. I'm kind of in a bad place to look it up right now; specifically, Colorado, on a borrowed computer, and really tired, but it gives a good order for reading mixed issues (like annuals and guest appearances).
The Gift, I think, is (two) of the best non-Byrne issues out there. Alpha Flight and the New Mutants never interact in Asgardian Wars, though; it's collected from the Alpha Flight / X-Men mini and an X-Men and a New Mutants annual that had follow-up stories.
~ Le Messor (aka Mik)